Lawrence Academy/Abuse Cover Up Scandal
Lawrence Academy played a role in the child abuse scandals at private boarding schools in the 1980s & '90's, by concealment of abuse on campus. Following two matching reports of child molestation in 1994, school officials chose to keep the accused person employed and living on campus. One of these students asked repeatedly what would be done, and was eventually told there was “no financial aid available for her return”. She was prevented from attending the following year. In 2016, Lawrence Academy headmaster Daniel Scheibe issued a public statement, asking people with information to come forward |first=Lowell|date=2016-10-20|website=Lowell Sun|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-04}}. The former student who challenged their decision, Vanessa (Fadjo) Osage, ’96, came forward, yet again. She had returned to the school annually, from 1994-2001, to insist on protection for incoming students; school officials were knowingly employing and housing a child molester. The member of staff was excused from employment seven years later, on "permanent long-term disability". The decision came when Ms. Osage was on her way to Groton, Massachusetts, at age 23, to give a speech in the Lawrence Academy auditorium on December 10, 2001 . He was released just days before her arrival. Then-headmaster Steven L Hahn resigned the following year. In 2016, following the Boston Globe's Spotlight Investigation of Boarding Schools , Vanessa Osage retained attorney Mitchell Garabedian to represent her in a case against Lawrence Academy. In 2017, his office sent a demand letter to the school for $2 million in settlement. Soon after, Ms. Osage released the attorney, citing a mismatch of principles. She proceeded with resolution on her own. A feature article of her story was published in The Lowell Sun on May 27, 2018 . Following publication, nearly a dozen former students, parents and families contacted her with stories of cover-ups at Lawrence Academy, with some allegations as recent as 2017. Lawrence Academy officials offered Ms. Osage 1% and then 3% of the attorney's demand, with a confidentiality clause, while “disagreeing” about what happened. She did not accept. Instead, she created a transparency and oversight model to prevent abuse cover ups called The Justice CORPS, the Committee to Oversee the Rights and Protections of Students , and incorporated her efforts into a state nonprofit called The Amends Project . Lawrence Academy officials hired attorneys from Sanghavi Law Firm in the summer of 2018 to create a report, after more former students came forward with similar allegations. Elizabeth Sanghavi is a former associate of Holland & Knight PaperClip Communications|website=www.paper-clip.com|access-date=2019-11-04}}, the law firm currently representing the school. Some former students proceeded with lawsuits. The academy released their findings in a report on April 25, 2019 . The report tallied five separate accounts of child molestation with students from 1991-1994. The scope of the investigation was outlined roughly as only covering incidents regarding the one former member of staff. This did not include the original two accounts given on campus in 1994. At least five impacted-former-students chose to not participate in the investigation. Ms. Osage asked for verification that the report would not be edited or abridged, and the school would not provide this. The former students’ accounts were found to be “credible”, and school officials apologized publicly for the employee's behavior. Though, there has been no apology for the actions to cover up abuse. Another former student, “Student A” is cited in the report as saying, “There was a backlash against the students who made the allegations, and the school did not address this”. The Lowell Sun continued press coverage on Lawrence Academy and The Amends Project from May 2018 to April 2019. In September 2019, Lowell Sun Managing Editor, Tom Zuppa, suddenly left his job after discovery of alteration of the most recent online article on the story. A phrase, ";school apologizes for response" was added to the headline, months after publication. A complaint has been filed with the Federal Trade Commission. As of November 2019, school officials are yet to acknowledge the cover up behaviors, or to settle with Ms. Osage out of court.